Deaf-Mute Girl?

"Phew... Chinese? Tibetan?" Letting out a breath, Richard began testing the Sino-Tibetan language family. Then, when he clearly pronounced the two words "Chinese" in Mandarin, Pandora blinked and frowned, her emotions stirring slightly.

Richard immediately tested her with more Chinese words, but Pandora returned to her original state. It was as if her earlier reaction had not been because she understood Chinese, but because she was curious... about how much longer Richard could keep talking.

Richard pursed his lips and tested the Afroasiatic language family again. "Arabic?"

Testing the Austro-Tai language family. "Javanese?"

Testing the Niger-Congo language family. "Wolof..."

Testing...

In the end, Richard tested every language he knew. Pandora maintained her original posture without moving at all, her brows slightly raised.

There were now only two likely possibilities.

The first was that the language the girl Pandora knew was a lost or unknown language. For example, Dalmatian, an Indo-European language family—Romance languages—Eastern branch language, had vanished. Or perhaps the legendary Dragon Language was not any language known to humankind.

In that case, communication was naturally impossible.

The second possibility was that Pandora simply had no ability to grasp language. Put simply, she was a deaf-mute girl. Since she could not hear sounds or speak, spoken language held no meaning for her. Compared to the first possibility, though, this one still left one final means of communication—sign language.

Richard looked at Pandora and extended his right hand, pointing at her. Then he drew it back, clenched it into a fist, and left only his thumb sticking out.

This was the simplest and most universally understood sign language expression: "Hello!"

In fact, even people who did not know sign language could understand its meaning, but... Pandora clearly could not. She stood where she was, tilting her head slightly as she continued to look at him with cold, strange eyes.

"Mm..." With that, Richard thought for a moment and began changing his hand gestures.

Sign language was a language that used hand movements to imitate images or syllables through changing gestures, thereby forming particular meanings or words. In truth, sign language had different classifications as well. In other words, even deaf-mute people could encounter language barriers when communicating. Fortunately, Richard knew several different forms of sign language.

However, after testing them all, he found that Pandora still showed no reaction.

"All right... it looks like there really is no way to communicate." Richard gave up trying, shook his head, and turned back to the rabbit roasting on the rack.

Pandora watched from the side. After a while, perhaps tired, she sat on a nearby rock, propped her chin on her two pale arms, and continued watching.

She watched Richard roast the rabbit, watched Richard eat it, watched Richard clean everything up...

Late at night.

Pandora stood, glanced at Richard, and silently walked into the ancient castle.

Watching Pandora enter, Richard turned to look at the Dragon Cave beside him, then at the open space atop the mountain, and began considering a question: where was he going to sleep tonight? He was not someone particularly concerned with comfort or luxury. Back when he had been a Prince, ordering maids, craftsmen, and soldiers around had been a privilege bestowed by his status, as well as something required by it. After all, this world was a feudal world akin to the Middle Ages. If he had gone around showing concern for a group of maids, craftsmen, and soldiers in the capacity of a Prince, they probably would not have been moved. They would have been more afraid than anything else.

One had to do what was appropriate for one's status.

But once he cast aside that status, he knew very well what kind of person he was. If necessary, all the necessities of life could be reduced to the bare minimum needed to sustain life, so long as it did not interfere with achieving his goals.

But then again, if he had a choice, he would naturally choose the option most beneficial to him.

He now had three choices: rest on the flat ground, lying on the dirt in the mountain wind; enter the Dragon Cave and lie on the rocks with Gregory; or enter the Black Castle and find a suitable room to rest in.

So which would he choose? Richard did not even consider it. He picked up the heavy suitcase he carried with him and walked into the Black Castle.

Inside the Black Castle, everything was silent. Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a vast hall. A huge crystal chandelier hung overhead, numerous oil paintings decorated the walls, and several stone statues stood in the corners.

Corridors connected to both sides and the rear of the hall. Along them were rooms of various sizes and purposes, such as a dining room, bedrooms, storage rooms, a kitchen, and so on.

In one corner of the hall was a spiraling wooden staircase leading to the second floor.

Carrying his suitcase, Richard thought for a moment, turned left into a corridor, casually selected a room, and entered. Using a Wind Spell to drive the air into motion, he simply cleared away the dust and cleaned the room before setting down his suitcase.

There was no bedding on the bed in the corner, only wooden boards. Richard did not mind. He sat cross-legged on it and began to meditate.

By now, after prolonged assistance from anesthetics, electric currents, and magnetic fields, Richard could already meditate, Open Source of Magic, and refine magical power on his own without assistance.

It was like learning to ride a bicycle. At first, one needed training wheels, but once one learned, they could be removed.

Richard had considered that if his method were popularized, many ordinary people could have the chance to become Wizards. If properly controlled, it could even create an army of Wizards capable of sweeping across the entire world. Of course, it was only a thought.

What mattered most was figuring out what exactly was going on in this world.

And to understand this world, what he needed to do now was increase his strength through meditation.

With that thought, Richard sat cross-legged on the wooden bed and quieted down.

"So quiet?" At the entrance to the Dragon Cave, Gregory, transformed into a sallow-faced Strong Man, poked his head out. He stared at the Black Castle for a long while, then listened closely for a moment before revealing a puzzled expression and muttering to himself, "Hm? No movement? That kid actually wasn't thrown out by Pandora? This... isn't right..."

After a while, Gregory withdrew his head and returned to the Dragon Cave, making no effort to hide his expression. "That really is a bit disappointing. I thought that kid would at least get taught a lesson, seeing how he kept bothering me..."

On the second floor of the Black Ancient Castle, inside a small room.

Dressed in purple, Pandora hugged her legs and curled up in a corner. Her large eyes glimmered in the darkness, and no one knew what she was thinking.

Suddenly sensing something, she sharply turned her head to look toward a spot below. Her gaze abruptly became somewhat dangerous.

P.S. Dear readers, could you leave some comments and recommendation votes?